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February Issue
2011
Columbia Museum of Art in Columbia,
SC, Offers Rock & Roll Photographic History
The exhibition, Who Shot Rock and Roll:
A Photographic History, ends its nation-wide tour at the Columbia
Museum of Art in Columbia, SC, on view from Feb. 25 through May
22, 2011.
Who Shot Rock & Roll is the first major exhibition
on rock and roll to put photographers in the foreground, acknowledging
their creative and collaborative role in the history of rock music.
The exhibition includes 175 works by more than 100 photographers,
and covers the rock and roll era from the 1950s to the present,
including some of the world's most iconic images. The exhibition
was organized by the prestigious Brooklyn Museum of Art, with
guest curator Gail Buckland, and opened there to rave reviews
and record-breaking attendance. Columbia is the last stop on the
nation-wide traveling tour.
New York Times reviewer, Ken Johnson wrote, "...to
study images of Elvis Presley, Madonna and others when they were
starting out is to marvel at the youth of those who created the
huge global industry of today's pop music."
This is the first exhibition to address the story of rock and
roll as told from the perspective of the people who chronicled
its development and defined it through visual imagery. Who
Shot Rock and Roll is about the men and women who photographed
one of the most important cultural revolutions ever, rock and
roll. Some of the major photographers represented in the show
are David LaChapelle, Mark Seliger, Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon,
Annie Leibovitz and Bob Gruen. The photographers' images communicate
the social and cultural transformations that rock has fostered
since the1950s
The exhibition is in six sections and includes video installations
as well: rare and revealing images taken behind the scenes; tender
snapshots of young musicians at the beginnings of their careers;
exhilarating photographs of live performances that display the
energy, passion, style and sex appeal of the band on stage; powerful
images of the crowds and fans that are often evocative of historic
paintings; portraits revealing the soul and creativity, rather
than the surface and celebrity, of the musicians; and conceptual
images and album covers highlighting the collaborative efforts
between the image makers and the musicians.
The music of the era needed images to communicate its message
of rebellion, freedom, and personal reinvention - these photographs
and others like them, were the hard evidence that rock was transforming
the world. By exploring this intersection of rock and roll and
great photography, the exhibit is an antidote to the slick, packaged
visual products of the music industry, and instead presents photographs
of depth, raw power, tenderness and brilliance.
The presenting sponsors for the Columbia presentation are Dr.
Suzan D. Boyd and Mr. M. Edward Sellers.
For further information check our SC Institutional Gallery
listings, call the Museum at 803/799-2810 or visit (www.columbiamuseum.org).
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